Having spent most of her life exploring the jungle, nothing could prepare Dora for her most dangerous adventure yet — high school. Accompanied by a ragtag group of teens and Boots the monkey, Dora (Isabela Moner) embarks on a quest to save her parents while trying to solve the seemingly impossible mystery behind a lost Incan civilization.
Plot: Dora, a teenage explorer, leads her friends on an adventure to save her parents and solve the mystery behind Parapata, a lost city of gold.
Director: James Bobin
Aspect Ratio: 1.85.1
Runtime: 102 min
Rotten Tomatoes Consensus: Led by a winning performance from Isabela Moner, Dora and the Lost City of Gold is a family-friendly adventure that retains its source material’s youthful spirit.
Online Ratings:
- Rotten Tomatoes 84% (Audience: 88%)
- IMDB 6.0
- Metacritic 63
“The new generation of kids will love Dora.”
Review:
Deep in the Peruvian jungle, Dora, daughter of explorers Cole and Elena, spends her days going on adventures with her monkey friend Boots, her cousin Diego, and imaginary friends Backpack and Map while thwarting the fox thief Swiper. When Dora and Diego are six and seven-years-old, Diego leaves to be with his family in Los Angeles, while Dora’s family remains searching for the hidden Inca city Parapata.
Ten years later, Dora’s parents decipher the location of Parapata but choose to send Dora to Diego’s school in LA while they travel to the lost city. On a class field trip to a museum, Dora and the others are lured to its off-exhibit archives, where they are captured by mercenaries who fly them to Peru. When they land, a man named Alejandro, who claims to be a friend of Dora’s parents, helps them escape. From here, the group travels through numerous obstacles, including quicksand, Inca ruin puzzles, and attacks from forest guards of Parapata.
Those of you who grew up with Dora should enjoy this live-action take, not only to re-live your childhood, but to pass on to the new generation of children who didn’t. This film not only pays homage to the original, but it does so in a way that doesn’t feel forced because it never takes itself too seriously. Nickelodeon and Paramount made this movie for the younger audience and it fits the glove perfectly.
My two-cents on the movie? It’s a movie every kid will enjoy, the new generation of kids will love dora. If you have children, pop it in and enjoy it with your family. It’s a great family movie-night if your children are the right ages… guaranteed. As it says on the back-cover; “Dora is a goldmine of fun.” Will this movie get a sequel? It had a reported budget of $49 million and it grossed $116 million worldwide. Factoring in marketing costs, this movie probably didn’t make enough much money to push a sequel. I wouldn’t count on it unless home video sales and VOD bring in a lot of money.
Finally, I have to note to all the buyers out there that Black Friday is a few weeks away and this will surely be discounted. If you need it now, you can grab it at your local retailer when it releases on Blu-ray and DVD on November 19th — it’s an easy recommendation, especially if you have children. If you do wait for the sale, make sure to add it to your list and gift it for the Holiday season.
Did you catch Dora and the Lost City of Gold in the theater? Were you a fan of this movie? Will you be picking it up to own? Let me know what you think in the comments below.
Cheers,
Matt.
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